China
Gender discrimination in China’s labour income
Author: Jane Golley, ANU, Yixiao Zhou, ANU, and Meiyan Wang, CASS
Income inequality has been a persistent feature of China’s rapid growth and development since the late 1970s. A gender earnings gap has persisted in urban China throughout the reform period despite a narrowing of the gender gap in educational attainment in recent years. Most of the earnings gap is attributable to gender discrimination.
Market reforms have not reduced gender discrimination in the rural economy either. There has been some reduction in wage discrimination in the most marketised sectors of Chinese rural industry since the 1980s, but discrimination still accounts for two-thirds of the wage differential in these sectors. This suggests a more serious gender problem than in other industrial and developing economies.
The urban female labour force participation rate dropped to 57 per cent in 2009 from 78 per cent in 1988. This can be attributed to the intensified pressures placed on women arising from their dual responsibilities as unpaid family carers and income earners during the economic transition.
During the 1980s and 1990s, women accounted for one-third of Communist Party members. By 2017 they accounted for one-quarter. Communist Party membership is associated with earnings that were 6 per cent and 10 per cent higher for men and women, respectively, in 1995. There has also been an increasing wage reward for party membership — it rose from 29 per cent in 1988 to 33 per cent in 1999. The higher return for women did not reduce the earnings gap because of lower female membership numbers.
There are various circumstances that contribute to inequality of opportunity in China’s individual labour income. Predominant among these circumstances are the occupation and education of one’s father, alongside one’s geographical location, ethnicity and rural or urban hukou status. But ranking above all of these in China’s case is the importance of gender — a point that does not hold in any other country for which similar analyses have been conducted.
Besides circumstances, an individual’s effort — or choices — also impacts on labour market outcomes. Higher levels of education, non-agricultural occupations, Communist Party membership and non-migration are associated with higher income. Some disparities in gender inequality reflect women working fewer hours or in different occupations. For example, some 40 per cent of Chinese women and 28 per cent of men work in agriculture. Still, whether this comes down entirely to a matter of choice is debatable.
Marriage (considered a choice in most cases) is interestingly associated with higher average income for men, but lower income for women — although this is only true in rural China. Close to three-quarters of married males in rural China state that they never or rarely cook, 80 per cent never or rarely wash dishes and 82 per cent never or rarely do washing or cleaning — all significantly higher percentages than their urban counterparts. This suggests a relatively weak position of rural women in intra-household bargaining relating to the time allocation for housework.
Measures to assist young women to exit the agricultural sector and find off-farm employment would improve their earnings potential in the future. Ongoing reforms to the hukou system of household registration to ensure that rural migrants are not discriminated against in urban areas would also equalise the opportunities they face with those of their urban counterparts.
The importance of marriage and its different impact on the annual incomes of rural men and women mean China’s ‘gender discrimination’ begins in the home. The gender divide in household chores is indicative of the costs Chinese married women bear disproportionately.
Efforts to improve childcare systems and grant paternity and maternity leave are equal opportunity policies that could improve the situation, especially in rural areas. So would a cultural shift towards equal contributions by men and women to chores within the household.
Jane Golley is Associate Professor and the Director of the Australian Centre on China in the World, College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National University.
Yixiao Zhou is a Senior Lecturer at the Crawford School of Public Policy, the College of Asia and the Pacific, the Australian National University.
Meiyan Wang is Professor at the Institute of Population and Labor Economics, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
This article is abridged from Jane Golley, Yixiao Zhou and Meiyan Wang’s ‘Inequality of…
China
New Report from Dezan Shira & Associates: China Takes the Lead in Emerging Asia Manufacturing Index 2024
China has been the world’s largest manufacturer for 14 years, producing one-third of global manufacturing output. In the Emerging Asia Manufacturing Index 2024, China ranks highest among eight emerging countries in the region. Challenges for these countries include global demand disparities affecting industrial output and export orders.
Known as the “World’s Factory”, China has held the title of the world’s largest manufacturer for 14 consecutive years, starting from 2010. Its factories churn out approximately one-third of the global manufacturing output, a testament to its industrial might and capacity.
China’s dominant role as the world’s sole manufacturing power is reaffirmed in Dezan Shira & Associates’ Emerging Asia Manufacturing Index 2024 report (“EAMI 2024”), in which China secures the top spot among eight emerging countries in the Asia-Pacific region. The other seven economies are India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and Bangladesh.
The EAMI 2024 aims to assess the potential of these eight economies, navigate the risks, and pinpoint specific factors affecting the manufacturing landscape.
In this article, we delve into the key findings of the EAMI 2024 report and navigate China’s advantages and disadvantages in the manufacturing sector, placing them within the Asia-Pacific comparative context.
Emerging Asia countries face various challenges, especially in the current phase of increased volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA). One notable challenge is the impact of global demand disparities on the manufacturing sector, affecting industrial output and export orders.
This article is republished from China Briefing. Read the rest of the original article.
China Briefing is written and produced by Dezan Shira & Associates. The practice assists foreign investors into China and has done since 1992 through offices in Beijing, Tianjin, Dalian, Qingdao, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Suzhou, Guangzhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong. Please contact the firm for assistance in China at china@dezshira.com.
China
Is journalist Vicky Xu preparing to return to China?
Chinese social media influencers have recently claimed that prominent Chinese-born Australian journalist Vicky Xu had posted a message saying she planned to return to China.
There is no evidence for this. The source did not provide evidence to support the claim, and Xu herself later confirmed to AFCL that she has no such plans.
Currently working as an analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, or ASPI, Xu has previously written for both the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, or ABC, and The New York Times.
A Chinese language netizen on X initially claimed on March 31 that the changing geopolitical relations between Sydney and Beijing had caused Xu to become an expendable asset and that she had posted a message expressing a strong desire to return to China. An illegible, blurred photo of the supposed message accompanied the post.
This claim was retweeted by a widely followed influencer on the popular Chinese social media site Weibo one day later, who additionally commented that Xu was a “traitor” who had been abandoned by Australian media.
Following the publication of an ASPI article in 2021 which exposed forced labor conditions in Xinjiang co-authored by Xu, the journalist was labeled “morally bankrupt” and “anti-China” by the Chinese state owned media outlet Global Times and subjected to an influx of threatening messages and digital abuse, eventually forcing her to temporarily close several of her social media accounts.
AFCL found that neither Xu’s active X nor LinkedIn account has any mention of her supposed return to China, and received the following response from Xu herself about the rumor:
“I can confirm that I don’t have plans to go back to China. I think if I do go back I’ll most definitely be detained or imprisoned – so the only career I’ll be having is probably going to be prison labor or something like that, which wouldn’t be ideal.”
Neither a keyword search nor reverse image search on the photo attached to the original X post turned up any text from Xu supporting the netizens’ claims.
Translated by Shen Ke. Edited by Shen Ke and Malcolm Foster.
Asia Fact Check Lab (AFCL) was established to counter disinformation in today’s complex media environment. We publish fact-checks, media-watches and in-depth reports that aim to sharpen and deepen our readers’ understanding of current affairs and public issues. If you like our content, you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and X.
Read the rest of this article here >>> Is journalist Vicky Xu preparing to return to China?
China
Guide for Foreign Residents: Obtaining a Certificate of No Criminal Record in China
Foreign residents in China can request a criminal record check from their local security bureau. This certificate may be required for visa applications or job opportunities. Requirements and procedures vary by city. In Shanghai, foreigners must have lived there for 180 days with a valid visa to obtain the certificate.
Foreign residents living in China can request a criminal record check from the local security bureau in the city in which they have lived for at least 180 days. Certificates of no criminal record may be required for people leaving China, or those who are starting a new position in China and applying for a new visa or residence permit. Taking Shanghai as an example, we outline the requirements for obtaining a China criminal record check.
Securing a Certificate of No Criminal Record, often referred to as a criminal record or criminal background check, is a crucial step for various employment opportunities, as well as visa applications and residency permits in China. Nevertheless, navigating the process can be a daunting task due to bureaucratic procedures and language barriers.
In this article, we use Shanghai as an example to explore the essential information and steps required to successfully obtain a no-criminal record check. Requirements and procedures may differ in other cities and counties in China.
Note that foreigners who are not currently living in China and need a criminal record check to apply for a Chinese visa must obtain the certificate from their country of residence or nationality, and have it notarized by a Chinese embassy or consulate in that country.
Foreigners who have a valid residence permit and have lived in Shanghai for at least 180 days can request a criminal record check in the city. This means that the applicant will also need to currently have a work, study, or other form of visa or stay permit that allows them to live in China long-term.
If a foreigner has lived in another part of China and is planning to or has recently moved to Shanghai, they will need to request a criminal record check in the place where they previously spent at least 180 days.
There are two steps to obtaining a criminal record certificate in Shanghai: requesting the criminal record check from the Public Security Bureau (PSB) and getting the resulting Certificate of No Criminal Record notarized by an authorized notary agency.
This article is republished from China Briefing. Read the rest of the original article.
China Briefing is written and produced by Dezan Shira & Associates. The practice assists foreign investors into China and has done since 1992 through offices in Beijing, Tianjin, Dalian, Qingdao, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Suzhou, Guangzhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong. Please contact the firm for assistance in China at china@dezshira.com.
- New Report from Dezan Shira & Associates: China Takes the Lead in Emerging Asia Manufacturing Index 2024
- Is journalist Vicky Xu preparing to return to China?
- Guide for Foreign Residents: Obtaining a Certificate of No Criminal Record in China
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